True to script, Cavemen rule

February 08, 2007|TIM CREASON Tribune Correspondent

ROCHESTER -- Strangely enough, neither side in Wednesday's team wrestling semistate at Rochester appeared real excited to be there. But in fairness, when the outcome is almost a foregone conclusion, it's tough for athletes to get their adrenaline pumping. Even the crowd was quiet -- at times, you could hear a pin drop -- as No. 2-ranked Mishawaka efficiently and methodically crushed No. 12 Lafayette Jeff, 61-6. "We just wanted to take care of business and move on," said senior 119-pounder Nick Wiesjahn, one of 12 Caveman winners in the 14 weight-class tournament. "We also wanted to make a statement," Wiesjahn said. "We want everybody to know that we're coming, and we're ready to win a state championship." Mishawaka (27-0) claimed its eighth consecutive semistate title and advances to the IHSAA team state finals in Greenwood on Saturday, Feb. 24. The Cavemen will take on Merrillville in the tourney opener. Lafayette Jeff, on the other hand, closes a 23-8 dual meet campaign. "We gave it our best shot," said Bronchos coach Tom Miller. "We ran into a stronger team with stronger athletes. It's really not much more complicated than that." Lafayette Jeff's only victories came in the 215-pound class, where Travis DePew scored a pair of third-period takedowns to hold off Dave Balentine, 7-3, and at 140, where Justin Fruits scored a heart-stopping 7-5 victory over Joey Smith. Fruits was leading 5-4 late in the third period, but was penalized one point for stalling just before time ran out. He then got the winning takedown 38 seconds into overtime. "Those are the kids you would expect to see do well for us," said Miller. "In a dual-meet, it's all about matchups. We figured we had a good chance in those." Otherwise, the meet was all Mishawaka's. Five Cavemen won by fall -- Paul Beck at 103, Adam Guerra at 112, Steven Sandefer at 135, Ian Hinton at 189 and Randy Morin at heavyweight. Two others -- Caleb Norville and Kurt Cauffman -- claimed back-to-back technical falls at 152 and 160, respectively. Wiesjahn, Anthony Lewis at 125 and Neal Kostry at 130 each won by major decision. Starting at 152, the Cavemen rolled up a 19-0 lead before Lafayette Jeff got on the scoreboard. They piled on another 36 points before the Bronchos scored again. The only real drama was seeing how Mishawaka's team would react to the absence of head coach Darrick Snyder, who had to sit out the match after the Cavemen were called on a weight rule violation at last week's Clay team regional. Also, defending state champion Josh Harper did not wrestle to avoid any possibility of the rule -- involving how much weight an athlete can lose -- being brought up again. "It's a bump in the road for us, but we're over it now," said Wiesjahn. "It was a bad situation for everybody and for coach, but like he told us, it had to be resolved. So, now we're going to forget about it and get back to business." Mishawaka's situation, incidentally, caused Lafayette Jeff coach Miller to hold out his normal 103-pounder, Oscar Trujillo, to avoid any possibility of the same thing happening with the Bronchos. Though the violation has rarely been called, Miller felt it was better to be safe than sorry. "I think this is something every team in the state will have to look at, now," said Miller. The fact that Mishawaka did not wrestle Lafayette Jeff earlier this season did not seem to make any difference. "These kids prepare all year to wrestle their own matches, regardless of the opponent," said Mishawaka assistant coach Mike Lehman, who helped guide the team in Snyder's absence. "I think we were pretty fired up. It's still about the team and tradition." SEMISTATE TOURNAMENTAt RochesterMISHAWAKA 61, LAFAYETTE JEFF 6 103: Paul Beck (M) pinned Kenny Geiger, 4:59. 112: Adam Guerra (M) pinned Jon Faust, 0:34. 119: Nick Wiesjahn (M) maj. dec. Derek Ford, 23-12. 125: Anthony Lewis (M) maj. dec. Trey Grayson, 13-2. 130: Neal Kostry (M) maj. dec. Jordan Hamrick, 9-1. 135: Steven Sandefer (M) pinned Rory Stodgell, 3:32. 140: Justin Fruits (LJ) dec. Joey Smith, 7-5 in OT. 145: Brandon Mersich (M) pinned Michael Huffer, 1:26. 152: Caleb Norville (M) tech. fall Donnie Lahay, 21-6 at 5:50. 160: Kurt Cauffman (M) tech. fall Travis Weston, 4:57. 171: Dustin Boyd (M) dec. Sean McCann, 5-1. 189: Ian Hinton (M) pinned Chad Mills, 1:15. 215: Travis DePew (LJ) dec. Dave Balentine, 7-3. 285: Randy Morin (M) pinned Justin Fruits, 2:50. Varsity records: Mishawaka 27-0, Lafayette Jeff 23-8 Officials: Jim Troyer (North Manchester), Rod Morgan (Elkhart)